Xconq

Xconq
Developer(s)	Stan Shebs, Greg Fisher, Robert Forsman, Alain Brossard, Michael Peters, etc.
Initial release	1987(Version 1.0)
Repository	xconq.cvs.sourceforge.net
Platform	Unix/Linux/X11,Macintosh,AmigaandWindows
Type	Single-player,multiplayer,4X,turn-based strategy
License	GPL-2.0-or-later
Website	sourceware.org/xconq/

Xconqis anopen-sourcecomputerstrategy game.Thismultiplayer video gamewas first posted tocomp.sources.gameson 9 July 1987. Xconqis released asfree and open-source softwareunder the terms of theGNU GPL-2.0-or-later.

Gameplay

Originally a straightforwardcloneofEmpire,later versions included the ability to define rulesets for different kinds of games,^[1]first using aForth-like syntax, then a more powerful version based onLispsyntax. It was also ported to other computer systems, includingMacintosh,Amiga,andWindows.

Xconqis designed to beportableand re-definable. The default ruleset is similar toEmpire,but the ruleset, graphics, and maps can be altered to represent different time periods and strategic scales. Example rulesets provided with the game include Napoleonic strategy, Beirut guerilla fighting, World War IIgrand strategy,andGodzilladestroying Tokyo. It can be played by multiple human or AI-controlled players over a network or viahot seatplay.

History

Stan Shebs started working on a simpleEmpireclone in 1986, initially usingCursesfor its interface, then adding anX10interface.^[2]He posted this version to comp.sources.games in July 1987.^[3]It used a map based on squares rather than hexes, and supported multiple players by exploiting X's capability for a single program to open windows on multiple displays, although it accepted input from only the player whose turn it was; other players could not even scroll their map display. Even this first version included support for three rulesets (the "standard" Empire-like game, a Napoleonic-era game, and ancient Greeks), but they were defined by C structures and had to be compiled in.

Shebs switched the game to use hex-based maps, added a postfix language to define the ruleset to be used when a game started, and changed the X interface to allow all players to interact simultaneously; these versions were numbered 2, 3, and 4, but were not released widely. After the addition of anX11interface written byChris Peterson,version 5.0 was posted to comp.sources.games (as "xconq5" ) in June 1988.

1989 saw the first attempt at a client/server version,uconq.

The Macintoshportwas developed in 1993.

Although work had started on version 7.5, there has been little development since 2004, with the lastCVScommit made in 2007.^[4]

References

^Rosen, Kenneth H.; Douglas A. Host; Rachel Klee; Richard R. Rosinski (2007).UNIX: The Complete Reference.McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 780.ISBN 978-0-07-226336-7.
^Re: Family tree of xconq,by Stan Shebs, on the xconq7 mailing list, Mon, 02 Oct 2006 09:38:57 -0700
^"xconq - multiplayer strategy game for X-windows, Part02/07".Newsgroup:comp.sources.games.Usenet:[email protected].v01i082: xconq - multiplayer strategy game for X-windows[sic], Part02/07,in comp.sources.games
^forum_name=xconq-cvsonsourceforge.net

External links

[ucr-1] Rosen, Kenneth H.; Douglas A. Host; Rachel Klee; Richard R. Rosinski (2007).UNIX: The Complete Reference.McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 780.ISBN 978-0-07-226336-7.

[2] Re: Family tree of xconq,by Stan Shebs, on the xconq7 mailing list, Mon, 02 Oct 2006 09:38:57 -0700

[3] "xconq - multiplayer strategy game for X-windows, Part02/07".Newsgroup:comp.sources.games.Usenet:[email protected].v01i082: xconq - multiplayer strategy game for X-windows[sic], Part02/07,in comp.sources.games

[4] rum_name=xconq-cvsonsourceforge.net

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